FW190 Mottle paint job

[Neo]

Hi Guys

 

my brother in law ask me to build him a 1/32 FW190. I got a great deal at my hobby shop for one and now im wondering how to do the Mottle paint job(good thing i just got my airbrush setup) i have seen Eduard Mottle Mask in 1/48 do they do them in 1/32 cuz i cant seem to find them? Is there a better option?

 

Im really nervous about this paint job and its the reason i never built a WWII German fighter before but what can i say i cant refuse someone wanthing to display my work in their house

 

Cheers

 

Neo

Edited February 23, 2012 by Neo

[Mikester]

Using a mask typically gives you a much harder edge than the mottles had on the real thing. My advice is practice on an old model until you're happy with the results, typically you'll have to play with your paint mixture and air pressure and an airbrush with a fine needle helps.

[Neo]

thanks but what i meant has eduard Mottle mask looks like a PE fret with different pattern in it so im guessing if you hold it at a distance maybe it will be less sharp edges?

 

like this stuff

Edited October 7, 2011 by Neo

[JamesHatch]

Using a mask typically gives you a much harder edge than the mottles had on the real thing. My advice is practice on an old model until you're happy with the results, typically you'll have to play with your paint mixture and air pressure and an airbrush with a fine needle helps.

 

I have to agree. You spray anything through an etch mask, and you'll have a harder edge than if you had done things free-hand. I would use some scrap card and try this yourself. Mottle isn't as difficult as it seems. Just spend a couple of hours practising. It'll be cheaper than the etch mask.

Edited October 7, 2011 by James H

[Neo]

Thanks for the advice. Now did i mention this is going to be my first model that im going to airbrush!!

 

im gona need loads of practice on this one!! but ill give it a try is there no bettersolution as eduard only makes these thing in 1/72 or 1/48

 

Are those normally random shape and size or are they more uniform?

 

Also does anybody know the behavior of nav light on these birds (i.e steady, fix flash, random flash, strobes,beacon, cockpit lights) im feeling like lighting this one up as well

 

Cheers

 

Neo

[LSP_Kevin]

Are those normally random shape and size or are they more uniform?

 

Completely random, and no two aircraft were painted the same. You have about as close to an unlimited license with Luftwaffe mottling as you can get in scale modelling.

 

Kev

[big matt]

Practice practice practice. Shoot water through the brush onto a sheet of paper. You will see the line and if there is any splatter or spider webbing. Just keep playing with the pressure and distance from the paper until you get the hang of it. That is cheaper than paint and will give you a feel for the gun and easy cleanup. That is how I learned and I got my first airbrush 3 years ago. Get close to the sheet and vary the pressure until you have good control and have fun. I think you will be surprised at how easy it can be. Besides, if I can do it, anyone can!

[spacewolf]

Totally random using the various topside paints. A guy just took the sprayer and did it in whatever pattern it took to fill the area. I'm sure some had a 'system' that they used but that would be only one individual. Now if you are doing a specific aircraft for which there are good shots of both sides than you'll need to try and get as close as you can to the ref. For your first time pick an aircraft close to what you are using for ref (ie; if you have pic ref for 'black 6' than do something similar with another number from the same squadron)

 

The trick is practice on an old kit till you get the skill down to where you are happy with the result and confidant you can do it. Good luck !

 

Cheers

 

Vaughn

[miamiangler]

Here`s another way you can make a cheap mask , get an index card and cut random size holes or any partern you want .You can use Eduards mask as a guide . then roll tape or Blue tac and put on the back of the mask .That way the index card is a few MM off the model and will give a soft edge . then you can touch up any mistakes later .I never get it perfect the first time and I have been doing mottling of german A/c for 20 years

 

 

Willi

[BloorwestSiR]

There is an etched paint mask in 1/32 scale but I can't remember who makes it. I got mine from Hannants. I'll try and see if I can find it and let you know who made it.

 

Like others have said, it does create a fairly hard demarcation so spacing it out a bit definitely helps to soften the edge a bit.

 

Carl

[Mikester]

Since you're new to the airbrush thing, keep in mind that not all 190's had mottles:

 

 

 

Even some that were finished in 74/75/76 had little or no mottling on the fuselage sides.

[dodgem37]

The Hartmann G-14 aircraft I completed this year is the first mottling I had ever done. To prepare for it I read articles that described the process the author went thru.

 

There were a couple of givens each author stated that I followed before I began spraying. Have as fine a needled airbrush as you can afford, SMALL airbrush opening, low air pressure, I found 12psi ideal for me, and what I would call overly thinned paint, a thinner to paint ratio of 1.5/2:1.

 

What you will need is an airflow regulator and a water trap for your airbrush. I have a regulator/water trap combination. If you have a diaphragm compressor you may need an extension threaded tube to screw into the compressor output so you can screw in the regulator/water trap as the regulator/water trap may need more room to rotate than is offered if you attempt to install it directly into the compressor output. The regulator has a knob that you can rotate to increase/decrease air flow pressure and a gauge so you can read what your air pressure will be. The side opposite the intake will have an output onto which you can attach the airbrush hose.

 

If you have a compressor with a reservoir tank the reservoir tank should come with a knobbed regulator on it. You will still need to buy a water trap to capture moisture that builds up in the system and will spit out of the airbrush. If you don't have a water trap then expect water to spit out of your airbrush. You don't want that.

 

When you practice, practice close, maybe even less than an inch. Get down there. You are working in a very small space, on a very small detail. The paint should be thin enough that it ghosts onto the surface when sprayed. It should dry almost immediately. If it doesn't, you'll know it! The airbrush opening is too large. Make is smaller. I found the procedure much easier to control by building up paint with layers of ghosted on paint rather than trying to create the mottle with one shot. An acceptable one shot mottle will not happen.

 

When you practice, do not practice mottling on raw plastic. Your model is painted a certain color, so practice on that painted surface color. You will see how much the colors influence each other and you will be able to determine how much paint you'll need to make your mottle opaque or transluscent. Raw plastic has different surface characteristics than paint and will be a different color.

 

The more control you have over the process the more creative you can be with your mottle shapes. They all don't have to be the same or similar.

 

You can see what I mean here. This is the Hartmann G-14 I completed earlier this year.

 

And here. If you look under the canopy, at the mottle below the armored headrest, I tried to make a little airplane silhouette. The nose would be at about 4 o'clock.

 

When you apply the mottles, you are applying a figure onto a ground, that is what the paint you are mottling onto is: a ground. Pay attention to the relationship between the figure and ground. An example of that is in the above photo, just below the bulge on the fuselage, near the cowling, there is a 'V' shaped mottle figure. Above that is one with a dip in it. These two figures create the space between them, the downward and then upward movement of the ground. If I had sprayed the top one as a straight line, the dynamic would have only been the 'V' shaped figure, but because of that small dip, the shapes interact, and create movement between their figure and the ground.

 

You will have overspray when you create your shapes. Expect it. To correct this, spray over the overspray with whatever color you are using for your ground. The correction paint needs to be the same consistency as your mottle paint, 1.5/2:1. Because, in essence, you are mottling over your mottles with the ground color. Build up the correction(s) by ghosting on the paint. Keep the paint opening on the airbrush small to avoid the spatter.

 

You will not like all of the mottles you make. Paint over them and do it again. Do them over until you like what you've done. Don't take no for an answer.

 

Just my take on things.

Sincerely,

Mark

[miamiangler]

The Hartmann G-14 aircraft I completed this year is the first mottling I had ever done. To prepare for it I read articles that described the process the author went thru.

 

There were a couple of givens each author stated that I followed before I began spraying. Have as fine a needled airbrush as you can afford, SMALL airbrush opening, low air pressure, I found 12psi ideal for me, and what I would call overly thinned paint, a thinner to paint ratio of 1.5/2:1.

 

What you will need is an airflow regulator and a water trap for your airbrush. I have a regulator/water trap combination. If you have a diaphragm compressor you may need an extension threaded tube to screw into the compressor output so you can screw in the regulator/water trap as the regulator/water trap may need more room to rotate than is offered if you attempt to install it directly into the compressor output. The regulator has a knob that you can rotate to increase/decrease air flow pressure and a gauge so you can read what your air pressure will be. The side opposite the intake will have an output onto which you can attach the airbrush hose.

 

If you have a compressor with a reservoir tank the reservoir tank should come with a knobbed regulator on it. You will still need to buy a water trap to capture moisture that builds up in the system and will spit out of the airbrush. If you don't have a water trap then expect water to spit out of your airbrush. You don't want that.

 

When you practice, practice close, maybe even less than an inch. Get down there. You are working in a very small space, on a very small detail. The paint should be thin enough that it ghosts onto the surface when sprayed. It should dry almost immediately. If it doesn't, you'll know it! The airbrush opening is too large. Make is smaller. I found the procedure much easier to control by building up paint with layers of ghosted on paint rather than trying to create the mottle with one shot. An acceptable one shot mottle will not happen.

 

When you practice, do not practice mottling on raw plastic. Your model is painted a certain color, so practice on that painted surface color. You will see how much the colors influence each other and you will be able to determine how much paint you'll need to make your mottle opaque or transluscent. Raw plastic has different surface characteristics than paint and will be a different color.

 

The more control you have over the process the more creative you can be with your mottle shapes. They all don't have to be the same or similar.

 

You can see what I mean here. This is the Hartmann G-14 I completed earlier this year.

 

And here. If you look under the canopy, at the mottle below the armored headrest, I tried to make a little airplane silhouette. The nose would be at about 4 o'clock.

 

When you apply the mottles, you are applying a figure onto a ground, that is what the paint you are mottling onto is: a ground. Pay attention to the relationship between the figure and ground. An example of that is in the above photo, just below the bulge on the fuselage, near the cowling, there is a 'V' shaped mottle figure. Above that is one with a dip in it. These two figures create the space between them, the downward and then upward movement of the ground. If I had sprayed the top one as a straight line, the dynamic would have only been the 'V' shaped figure, but because of that small dip, the shapes interact, and create movement between their figure and the ground.

 

You will have overspray when you create your shapes. Expect it. To correct this, spray over the overspray with whatever color you are using for your ground. The correction paint needs to be the same consistency as your mottle paint, 1.5/2:1. Because, in essence, you are mottling over your mottles with the ground color. Build up the correction(s) by ghosting on the paint. Keep the paint opening on the airbrush small to avoid the spatter.

 

You will not like all of the mottles you make. Paint over them and do it again. Do them over until you like what you've done. Don't take no for an answer.

 

Just my take on things.

Sincerely,

Mark

 

 

Well said Mark ,I second that .German mottling is not easy .I look at it as an art form something you have to master . But with practice you should do fine Neo .

 

Willi

[CharlesMetz]

Are those normally random shape and size or are they more uniform?

The mottle patterns used on WW2 German aircraft varied greatly, ranging from sparse to dense, from large to small, from random to regular, and from subtle to high in contrast. If you want the mottle on your model to look realistic, then you must devote a fair amount of time to examining photos of the particular real aircraft that you're building, if possible, or at least of real Luftwaffe aircraft with similar markings from the same general time period. If accuracy isn't important to you, that's perfectly OK -- "it's only a hobby," as the saying goes -- but achieving accuracy inevitably requires an investment of effort in research. That's just the way the world works.

 

Charles Metz

[Neo]

Thanks for all of your inputs

 

 

Practice practice practice. Shoot water through the brush onto a sheet of paper. You will see the line and if there is any splatter or spider webbing. Just keep playing with the pressure and distance from the paper until you get the hang of it. That is cheaper than paint and will give you a feel for the gun and easy cleanup. That is how I learned and I got my first airbrush 3 years ago. Get close to the sheet and vary the pressure until you have good control and have fun. I think you will be surprised at how easy it can be. Besides, if I can do it, anyone can!

I must say i never considered this practice technique before and its way better than cleaning enamel paints out thanks Big matt